The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
Outlaws
By: Sapphire
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Chapter Five: From Legend to Life
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"What's going on?" Anne wondered as the train sped passed them. Mary shook her head, and Race stared after the train, his eyes narrowed.
"I don't like this," Race said. He stood up in the wagon box and looked back toward the depot. Costumed riders were coming tearing along the tracks, chasing after the train. They flew past at top speed, all except the last man. It was Jared Hadley.
"I've got a lame horse," he said, jumping down from the saddle. He looked up at Mary. "Something went wrong, and we've got to catch that train."
"Take Fireball," Mary said. Jonny jumped down from the wagon and untied the stallion. Jared ran forward and swung easily into the saddle. Jessie caught the reins to Jared's lame horse and pulled the gelding to the wagon. Jared nodded, kicking Fireball into a run.
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Jared caught up with the posse as the train came into view. It was stopped straight ahead on the tracks. Some of the passengers were standing around outside the train, others were hanging out the window, trying to see what was going on. The boxcar doors were open, and there was hurried and tense activity going on inside.
"Sheriff Tomlin!" someone shouted. "There's been a shooting!" The sheriff raced forward and dismounted quickly beside the boxcar. He climbed up quickly to inspect what was going on. "It's Lester Howell." The posse hung around, uncertain what to do next. Everyone else was unharmed, though some were quite shaken at the experience. Jared rode alongside the passenger cars, looking up at the windows for his little brother and Maggie.
"Jared Hadley!" a woman called. Jared looked up. Jared didn't know her name, but she was one of the teachers at the Holder Spring Elementary School. "Jared! They took Davy and the woman who was with him from the passenger car."
"Who did?" Jared asked, alarmed.
"Frank and Jesse James," the teacher replied. Jared didn't stay to find out any more. He kicked Fireball into a gallop and circled the back of the train to find the sheriff.
"Sheriff Tomlin," someone was saying, "Lester said something about money before he passed out. Said there was money in the strongbox."
"There wasn't any money in the strongbox," Sheriff Tomlin said.
"They rode off with the strongbox. There had to be somethin' in it," another onlooker said.
"Which way did they ride?" Sheriff Tomlin asked. "They can't get far on horseback, not if I send some patrol cars after them." Several people pointed to the east. "Why'd they go that way? There ain't nothin' out there for miles, except range land."
No, that wasn't all that lay out there, Jared realized. Buffalo Cave was out that way. The same cave the real outlaw gang was said to have gone with the loot after robbing the train out of Holder Spring. He turned Fireball east, galloping over the grassy plain.
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A rider came full speed from the direction the train had gone. The Quests and Malloys watched in curiosity along with the rest of the crowd, awaiting an explanation for the bizarre turn of events. As he neared the crowd of confused spectators, he shouted out an alarm.
"Lester Howell's been shot!" he announced. The crowd gasped in horror. "Sheriff wants all on and off duty police and deputies on the road looking for those outlaws. They're armed, considered dangerous, and headed east." More than a dozen men and women separated from the crowd, running or riding toward main street where the small police station was located. "Radio the state patrol! And don't forget to send an ambulance!" the rider shouted after them.
"I don't like this," Race said, fidgeting with June's lead rope. "I'm going to see what's happening." He turned to Anne. "Mind if I borrow June?" Anne shook her head and Race mounted the sure-footed mare. Just then, Mr. and Mrs. Hadley, Davy's parents, found them in the crowd.
"Would you mind giving us a ride out there?" Mr. Hadley asked," If you're going that way? We're worried about Davy. He was on the train." Mary and Rueben looked at each other and nodded.
"Sure thing, Ben," Mary said. "You and Jean hop in." Ben Hadley lifted his wife into the wagon as Mary released the brake and took up the reins.
"We'll be along soon," Dr. Quest told Race as the ex-I One agent rode off toward the stopped train.
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Maggie looked ahead in surprise. Sitting in front of Frank James, riding double, she watched as the entrance of Buffalo Cave came into view. There was no mistaking the pulley system over the cave's entrance, the "Do Not Enter" sign posted in front of it. She wondered what they were doing there. The horses stopped several feet from the cave and the James Younger Gang dismounted. Davy stood terrified, looking up at Jesse James. Frank led Maggie by the arm toward the pulley system.
"Why are we here?" Maggie asked. She hadn't said a thing since Jesse had told her to shut up. Now she wanted answers. "We haven't found the lost gold, if that's what you're after." Jesse laughed.
"Hell with that. It's just a story the locals made up."
"Then why are we here?" Maggie asked.
"Because Bob Younger over there had himself one hell of a good idea, and then made one hell of a stupid mistake. That, and we might need a hostage or two," Jesse didn't elaborate, and Maggie didn't press her luck asking more questions. Cole Younger pulled a harness for the pulley system from his saddle bag and joined Jesse at the cave's entrance. Jesse grabbed Maggie and handed her the harness. "Get in," he said. Maggie did as she was told, struggling with putting the harness on over her dress. Once she was buckled in, Cole swung her over the hole in the ground and lowered her a few feet. "Send the kid down, too," Jesse ordered. "We ain't got all day." He shoved Davy toward Maggie.
"You don't expect him to go down with me?" Maggie asked incredulously. That kind of stunt was dangerous. If Davy were to slip, he could fall to his death. "What if he falls?"
"Then you better hold on to him real tight," Jesse said firmly. Staring at Jesse wide eyed, Maggie reached out for Davy. The outlaw was deadly serious.
"Hold on to me good, Davy," Maggie said. "I won't let you fall." Davy grabbed onto her, wrapping his legs around her middle, and his arms around her neck. Frank handed Maggie an old lantern lit with a candle. Jesse glared, but said nothing.
"Wait for us at the bottom," Frank said. "Don't try anything. Just do what you're told." Maggie nodded as she was lowered into the cave. She wouldn't dare run into the depths of the cave, not with Davy and a candle that would last a few hours at most. People had been known to go stark raving mad in the total darkness of caves after being lost with no light.
Once she and Davy had descended the thirty feet to the cavern floor, she let Davy down and quickly got out of the harness. Keeping Davy with her, she found a place to sit and wait for the others. Frank came down, followed by Bob Younger. Cole, Jim, and Jesse stayed topside.
"Why are we down here?" Maggie felt it safe enough to ask questions now that they were out of Jesse's hearing range. He seemed to be the one in charge, and he was never happy when his motives or actions were questioned.
"We need you to get something we dropped," Frank said, taking her arm and pulling her along behind him. Bob took Davy by the collar of his shirt, leading the way with the powerful beam of a flashlight. They headed down through the series of chambers that headed the north branch of the cave system until they came to the room where it branched into three passages. "Where's the mark, Bob?" Frank asked. Bob played his light on the ceiling until the beam found the blackened arrow on the ceiling of the cave.
"Right there," Bob said. "We go straight that way."
"You put that there?" Maggie asked. Bob nodded with a grunt. "Recently, like in the past two days?" Again Bob nodded. "No wonder Race and Jonny didn't find it that first morning." She fell silent as they passed through the low tunnel and through the next room. They stopped when they came to the bottomless pit. Maggie looked at it dubiously. "Why are we stopped here?" she asked. Neither Bob nor Frank answered her as Bob handed Davy to Frank. Bob backed away from the hole, then with careful precision, he took a running start and jumped over the five-foot gap that made the black abyss. He landed safely on the other side with room to spare.
Bob ducked into the opening on the other side and disappeared for a few minutes. Frank stood waiting patiently, his hand on Davy's collar, his gun trained on Maggie. When Bob appeared, led by a high powered flashlight, he was carrying a good sized load. Maggie strained to get a good look at his burden, and was not surprised to see "Federal Treasury" stamped on the outside of the otherwise non-descript bags he carried.
"The rest of the money," Maggie breathed. Bob gave her a silencing glare, then set his load down. Frank holstered his gun, shoving Davy at Maggie, then got ready to catch the first bag Bob was going to throw across the hole to him. Maggie counted as each one came over. One…two…three…four…five…six…seven. As the last was caught by Frank, Bob took a few steps back and took a running leap back over the abyss. There wasn't as much room on the other side to get a good running start, and Bob barely cleared the hole. Frank reached out and grabbed his shirt front as he teetered on the edge of the abyss. Safe on the near side, Bob looked down the hole, shining his flashlight into it.
"Can't see the bottom," he grumbled. "How deep is the hole?" Bob barked at Maggie.
"I don't know," she said.
"You're one of them people working for that fool treasure hunter, aren't you?" he asked. Maggie nodded. "Then you should know how deep this goes. You've seen the maps."
"The hole isn't marked on our maps. We have no idea how deep it goes," Maggie said nervously. "Why do you even care, anyway? Are you going to put us down there?" She shuddered at the thought.
"That would be the stupid mistake Jesse mentioned," Frank told her. "Bob dropped one of the bags down there." He pointed to the hole. "Not sure how deep it is, but we heard it thump to a stop." Frank turned to Bob. "Jesse said not to get it if it was going to take a long time. Let's just leave the last bag. We've got more 'n enough dough." Maggie gasped as Davy pulled away from her. He grabbed two of the treasury bags and dropped them down the hole with the look of sheer spite on his face. The three adults watched in shock until they heard the double thump as the bags hit bottom. Before Maggie could catch him, Bob Younger grabbed Davy by the collar and held him over the pit.
"Damned kid," he hissed at Davy. Bob turned to Maggie. "You're going down there. You go down and get that money, or I send the kid after it…without a rope." Maggie swallowed hard, watching Davy glance terrified between Bob and Frank, and then pleadingly at her. "We gotta get it now," Bob told Frank. "There's more 'n thirty grand down there, now."
"I'll go, I'll go," Maggie said nervously. "Just put Davy down safely." Bob swung Davy around and dropped him on solid ground at his feet. Davy scrambled away, curling up in a ball at the juncture where the cave wall and floor met. He looked like a frightened kitten sitting there like that.
"We'll lower you with the rope," Frank said. Maggie looked longingly at Davy, wanting to go over and hug him, reassure him. "We'll keep the boy up here safe with us until you bring it up." Maggie nodded, knowing Frank would not break his word on that. Bob pulled out the rope. Maggie guessed it was about forty feet long. She swallowed hard again, trying to fight her fear when Bob tied a loop in the end of the rope. She realized he expected her to go down the hole with a rope archaically tied around her chest with only her arms stopping her from slipping through.
"You're joking." Maggie shook her head.
"Nope," Bob told her, handing her the end of the rope. "It's your neck, not mine." Davy looked at Maggie and whimpered.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
"Don't worry. It'll be fine," she told him as she pulled the looped rope over her head and secured it under her arms. Frank found a rock to secure the other end of the rope to. At least she wouldn't fall too far if she fell.
"You ready yet?" Bob asked, growing impatient.
"I don't trust you," she told him, taking the candle lit lantern he handed her for light. "Let me tell you this. If you aren't careful with me, I won't be careful with those bags. I go down, I get the bags, and you pull me up. I keep the bags until I'm back up here safely. There's no way I'm letting you leave me down in that pit." She looked at Frank. "Then you all go and leave us unharmed." Frank gave an imperceptive nod, but it was enough.
"Agreed," Frank said. He gave Bob a cold look. "You stick to that," he told him. "She's not going to go back on the agreement. We've got the kid, remember." Bob said nothing for a long time, then finally gave a nod of agreement. Maggie stepped to the edge of the pit and carefully started over the edge as Frank and Bob lowered her by the rope.
"Maggie…" Davy whimpered.
"It's okay," Maggie said as she sank below the edge of the hole. "I'll be back soon."
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"How could they take Davy?" Mrs. Hadley cried. "Why didn't anyone try and stop them?" Ben Hadley held his wife comfortingly.
"Jane," he said. "They had loaded guns. There was nothing anyone could have done." Dr. Quest watched them with sympathy. He knew a bit of what they were feeling.
"They're doing everything they can to find him," Dr. Quest said.
"We know," Ben said. "This is just hard, especially after the scare yesterday afternoon." Dr. Quest nodded.
"Where's Jared?" Jane suddenly asked. "Wasn't he supposed to be with the posse during the enactment?"
"His horse went lame and he stopped at our wagon. I lent him Fireball," Mary said. "We haven't seen him since." The Hadleys, Quests, and Malloys looked at each other curiously.
"Hey Doc," Race rode up on Anne's horse, June. "I've been asking questions. "Seems the outlaws headed east after the train stopped. Someone said they had a man and horses waiting out here. A lone rider tore after them once the posse caught up with the train. Someone thought it might be Jared."
"What?" Jane said incredulously. "He couldn't possibly find them. Even if he could find a trail, people have been riding out here all week. There's so many tracks going in so many directions, it would be impossible."
"Maybe he knows something I couldn't find out," Race said with a shrug. "I found out something else, too," Race continued. "Seems the outlaws didn't take Maggie and Davy at random. Folks from the train say the outlaws knew Maggie by name."
"Maggie danced with Frank James," Hadji remembered. Anne gasped. Everyone turned to look at her.
"Davy knew Jesse James, or at least, Jesse knew Davy." The others just looked at her questioningly. "You know how Davy runs on about Jared," she said, "Well he was running on about Maggie last night. He mentioned the search going on out at Buffalo Cave, and was saying how you all were going to find the gold. Everyone was laughing it off, like they usually do about the hidden loot. Everyone, except Jesse. He was listening in rapt attention."
"You don't think they took Maggie because of the lost gold?" Jonny said. "That's crazy. If that's what he wanted, he'd have kidnapped one of us after we found it."
"I don't know why they took Maggie and Davy, but Jesse James found something awfully interesting about what Davy was saying. That's for sure," Anne said.
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"Lookie what I found," Jim Younger chortled as he sauntered up to Jesse and Cole, gun in one hand, a man in the other. "Seems I caught me a spy."
"It's the kid's brother," Jesse said. "Well, well." Jim pushed Jared into the dirt at Jesse's feet.
"What do we do with him?" Jim wondered.
"Was he alone?" Jesse demanded.
"Yeah," Jim replied. "I made sure there wasn't anyone else. Just him. Then I jumped him. His horse took off like a scared rabbit." Jesse smirked at Jared.
"We'll send him down into the cave when Bob and Frank come up. He can't hurt us down there." Jesse turned away from Jared and Jim. "Cole, you tie him up and baby-sit our unexpected guest."
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Maggie was careful to hold the lantern just right for fear it's precious flame would go out. It was hard, hanging there with the rope cutting into her under her arms, who knew how high off the ground…if there was a ground. She tried to use her feet to walk down the side of the hole, but her old fashioned heeled boots kept slipping on the rock wall.
"How deep am I?" Maggie called up.
"About twenty-five feet," Frank called down, "give or take." Maggie peered down below her into the darkness, hoping to see something of a bottom to the hole. There was nothing, and she continued to descend steadily.
"How deep am I now?" Maggie asked again after a few minutes.
"A little more than thirty feet," Frank called. "We're almost out of rope." Maggie swallowed hard, not wanting to think about what would happen if they ran out of rope and she hadn't hit bottom yet. Then she saw something. It wasn't much, but it seemed like shadowy shapes below her. She watched carefully as she was lowered further, and suddenly the bottom appeared.
"I'm almost there!" she called up. "I can see the money bags!"
"About time," Bob could be heard from above. As Maggie approached the bottom, she realized it wasn't the bottom at all. It was a shelf in the shaft, and there was a gaping crevice between the shelf, and another shelf on the other side. What she saw on the other side took her breath away. It was rusty, but there was an old green strongbox, "Wells Fargo Co." lettered clearly on the side, bits of an old, rotting rope around it. She had found the James Younger Gang's real loot of gold.
"Stop!" Maggie suddenly called. Her descent was sharply halted. She didn't want to put any weight on the shelf. She didn't know how much support it had, nor did she know how much weight it could take.
"What's going on?" Frank called down.
"The money bags are resting on a shelf," Maggie explained. "I'm afraid if I step on it, it'll collapse under me." She looked around and weighed her options. She formed a skeleton of a plan in her mind. "Hold on tight, I'm going to try something and I'll swing a little."
"Okay," Frank called down. Then, with all the strength and agility she possessed, she twisted around in the rope and managed to get her feet above her head, her back resting in the loop of the rope. This freed her hands so she could get the money bags, as well as giving her poor underarms a break from the biting rope.
"Lower me very slowly," she called up. The lantern in one hand, her other outstretched toward the bags, she slowly descended until she could grasp a bag. "Stop," she called. Her descent halted. Carefully, she collected each bag and used their closures to attach them to the rope holding her. Once they were secure, she picked the lantern back up and readied herself for the ascent. "Okay, got them. Pull me up." With a jolt, she started upward. After she was several feet off the shelf, she had them stop so she could right herself in the rope's loop. Starting again, she used her feet to help propel herself upward, despite the slippery shoes.
After ages, she finally reached the top. Bob took the lantern from her, miraculously still lit, then held the rope while Frank pulled her out of the hole to safety. As soon as she was far enough away from the hole, and had Davy safely in hand, she slipped the loop of the rope down over her hips and let it drop to the floor, pulled by the weight of the three money bags. She let Bob and Frank take the rope and bags from her.
"Now what?" she asked. Frank looked at her.
"Nothing," he said. "You can follow us back to the entrance." Maggie picked up the old lantern and led Davy through the cave's passages. Davy held Maggie tight around the waist, shaking slightly from the chill air. Maggie wasn't cold, not after her stint in the pit, but they had been down there a long time, and Davy wasn't dressed for such cool temperatures.
The harness was waiting for them, hanging from the entrance. Bob went up first, carrying all the money with him. The pulley above kicked in again as it was lowered to retrieve Frank. As the line came down, Maggie realized someone was in the harness.
"Jared!" Davy shouted, running to meet his brother. Jared reached out a hand and grabbed Davy's as he reached the ground. The pulley stopped.
"Out," Frank said, waving his gun at Jared. Jared remained silent, glaring at Frank James, as he let himself out of the harness. "Over there, by the wall," he instructed. Jared reluctantly moved in the direction the gun indicated. "You, too," he said to Maggie. Maggie wasted no time in moving. Davy trotted after them, hiding behind them. Frank hooked himself into the harness and gave the signal to be pulled up. As he went, he dug into a pocket. "Here," he said, looking at Maggie. "I wasn't supposed to, but you played it smart." He threw a box at Maggie, then tipped his hat as he disappeared above them. The three people down in the cave listened with heavy hearts as the pulley stopped, and remained stopped. They could hear voices above them, sharp angry voices, as the men above argued. "Leave them…" she caught a fragment of Frank's words. She couldn't make out anything else, but after a few more moments of heated words, she could hear horses, and then silence. The outlaws were gone, and she and the Hadley brothers were stuck.
"Are you okay?" Jared asked Davy, dropping to one knee to look the little boy over carefully. Davy nodded.
"I was scared," Davy said with a tremble. "They were going to throw me in a deep hole." Jared looked up at Maggie.
"They used him to make me go down into a deep hole and fetch a bag of money they dropped in there." Her eyes lit up with excitement. "Guess what I found down there?"
"What?" Jared asked, confused.
"I found Jesse James' gold!"
"What?" Jared exclaimed.
"Across from the money bag was a strongbox. It said 'Wells Fargo Co.' on the side, and it was old." Maggie walked over and retrieved the box Frank had thrown to her. "Candles," she said, looking up at the opening high above them with a thankful nod. "I knew I could trust him. He made sure Bob didn't really hurt Davy and me. Frank made sure Jesse didn't hurt any of us." Jared picked up the lantern.
"How do you know?" Jared asked, coming to stand beside her.
"That's what they were arguing about. Jesse said he wanted to keep us in case they needed a hostage. Frank made them leave us here." Jared shrugged. There was no way to know for sure.
"We better light a new one now before this one goes out," he said. "It's practically done for." Maggie nodded and handed him a candle out of the box.
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To be continued…
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